How to get your startup covered by Techdirt
TL;DR
Techdirt is a blog about technology, law and government policy, started in 1997 by Mike Masnick and run by Floor64. The old story submission page at techdirt.com/submitstory.php now redirects to the home page, so the working channel is the free contact form. It suits founders whose story touches copyright, patents, privacy, free speech or regulation, and product launches do not fit.
What is Techdirt?
Techdirt grew from Masnick's own blog into a group blog. Its About page defines the beat as government policy, technology and legal issues that affect how companies build and grow, plus civil liberties and consumer rights. The site reports about 1 million visitors a month and more than 1.7 million comments on 73,000+ posts.
Floor64, in Redwood City, California, also runs the Copia Institute. Outside authors appear too: on 27 October 2026 the home page carried a guest piece on age verification.
Who should pitch Techdirt?
- Founders hit by a legal problem with a wider lesson: a patent troll letter, a bogus DMCA takedown, a trademark bully or an overreaching regulator.
- Startups in privacy, encryption, content moderation, AI policy or open source, with a clear public-interest angle.
- Founders who want to write an opinion piece on a policy fight they know first-hand.
- Skip it for funding news, feature launches and anything that reads like a press release about your product.
How much does Techdirt cost?
Pitching through the contact form is free. The paid options are separate from editorial coverage:
- Advertising and sponsorship go through the contact form and the Media Kit.
- The Insider Shop sells reader perks: Techdirt Credits at $1 each to mark a comment as First Word or Last Word, Crystal Ball at $15 a year, The Watercooler at $5 a month and Behind the Curtain at $15 a month.
The domain authority of 80 belongs to techdirt.com as a whole. You gain from it only if an editor writes about you; a comment brings readers, and nothing more.
How do you share your startup on Techdirt?
- Read a few weeks of posts on Techdirt and note which writer covers your topic.
- Open the Techdirt contact form. Under Send To, choose Media/Public Relations for a news pitch or Op-Ed Requests for an opinion piece.
- Fill in name, company, title, email and subject. Write the subject as a headline that states the policy issue.
- In the comments box, explain in a few lines what happened, when, and why it matters beyond your company. Link the source documents: the court filing, the bill or the takedown notice.
- Send it once. No reply means no story; resend only when something new happens.
Tips to get more out of Techdirt
- Keep it recent. Techdirt's own submission notes say a story from two months ago is unlikely to run.
- Give a title and a reason. The same notes warn that tips with no title, or just a bare link, get ignored.
- Lead with the principle. Open with the issue, such as "a patent troll is suing 40 small app makers", and keep your product to one line at the end.
- Join the comments as yourself. Thoughtful comments on posts in your field put your name in front of an engaged readership before you pitch.
Our verdict
Techdirt is a narrow but sharp target: founders caught up in a tech policy or legal fight get readers who care. For a launch or a funding round it is the wrong place, so pitch only when your story makes a point about law, policy or free speech.
More options: see all tech media, blogs and newsletters. Planning a launch around press coverage? The Fe/male Switch startup game walks women founders from idea to first customers.